Hearts sink after Fredericton rejects offer to keep pool open

The closure of the Sir Max Aitken Pool could mean the end of competitive swimming in Fredericton, say pool advocates, who wonder if the city would treat soccer or hockey players the same way.

"I can't imagine taking away hockey or soccer or tennis or volleyball from another group ... within our municipality's sports and recreation budget," said Mike O'Connor of Fredericton.

O'Connor has two daughters who swim competitively with the Fredericton Aquanauts Swim Team and a son who is just learning to swim.

• Fredericton rejects UNB offer to keep pool another year 
• UNB offers to extend life of Sir Max Aitken Pool until 2019 
• Fredericton group pushes for new aquatics centre to replace doomed UNB pool

"They're losing their chosen sport," he said. "The city is saying, 'We are no longer going to support your sport.'"

On Thursday, the city rejected the University of New Brunswick's offer to keep the pool open another year.

The proposal was offered about a month ago and included having the city pay 60 per cent of the costs. Mayor Mike O'Brien said the city decided against paying costs of keeping a pool the city doesn't own. 

This is a failure on their part to negotiate what should've been a fairly decent settlement as an interim solution to get us a new pool.- Gary Arsenault, Silver Dolphins 

But O'Connor said the closure will have a huge impact on families across the city. It will also affect people like Gary Arsenault, member and spokesperson for the Silver Dolphins, a seniors recreational swim group in Fredericton.

The group ranges from people ages 50 to 85 who use the pool to maintain their health.

"To watch this group walk in with canes, some that are disabled, sight impaired, hearing impaired — to have this facility taken from them — is not right," said Arsenault, who frequently does laps at the pool.

"It's an impact that will be felt through the seniors community."

Advocates of keeping the pool going are shocked and frustrated the deal didn't go through and are still trying to wrap their heads around the future of their swim groups.

When the university made the last-minute attempt to temporarily extend the lifespan of the UNB pool, O'Connor said he originally had tremendous hope.

"When we heard the offer to extend the Sir Max Aitken Pool we were so happy … I jokingly said to my city councillor, 'This isn't just an olive branch, they're handing over the whole tree,'" said O'Connor.

Olympic medallist baffled

Fredericton native Marianne Limpert, one of the few Olympic medallists the province has ever produced, expressed disappointment the city would let the pool close.

"I cannot comprehend how we ever got to this point and where a city like Fredericton could allow it's only competitive pool to close when it had a full decade to prepare and plan for it," Limpert wrote Thursday.

In his announcement O'Brien said the city would try to accommodate people as much as possible at the Fredericton Indoor Pool on the city's north side. But supporters of the UNB pool offer said the other two pools in the city are at capacity.

"Asking senior citizens to go early in the morning or late at night is just not on," said Arsenault.

"It's not a solution to this problem … they have an existing pool at UNB that will offer us an interim solution."

Arsenault said the city needs to step up and come up with a solution that will let people use the Sir Max Aitken Pool in the interim and find a permanent solution after that.

"This is a failure on their part to negotiate what should've been a fairly decent settlement as an interim solution to get us a new pool."

The Six Max Aitken pool is scheduled to close in September 2018.

"This is our lives they're talking about and it needs to be addressed properly," said Arsenault. "I don't think they get it."